Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 187 entries, all of them here in full.
August 14, 2007 · 224 words
Watermelon Man
Lest me just rant here for a while. About seedless watermelons, and why I hate them. They’re not seedless! The seeds are puny, but they’re there. So even calling them seedless is a misrepresentation. They should be “weeny-seeded watermelons.” They don’t taste good! They don’t taste awful, but they don’t have the full r
Read entry →August 13, 2007 · 1,010 words
Let’s All Make Fun of the Deformed and Unfortunate! (An Artistic Experience)
This was our weekend for the opera. We went to Santa Fe for two nights and stayed in Gene and Holly Bostwick’s lovely casita. The three-room guest house is well-equipped with beds and drinks and tidbits installed in a small fridge, but it lacks cooling. As the interior temperatures approached 90 degrees, we reflected t
Read entry →August 8, 2007 · 106 words
Uncle Howard Hath a Blog
Howard Waldrop— y’know, the writer who invented steampunk and has written the best alternate-history stuff in the world, and who is known to his friends as “Mister National Treasure”— has launched, or rather allowed someone else to launch, a new edition of “the world’s most technologically primitive blog.”
Read entry →August 8, 2007 · 60 words
Voice of the Whirlwind
“I like this book so much there’s a passage from it tattooed on my thigh.” —Peter J. Johanssen. Gee. Did I ever get around to mentioning that Voice of the Whirlwind is back in print?I suspect not, because I was caught up in the Taos workshop when it happened. It’s my best job of plotting […]
Read entry →August 7, 2007 · 94 words
Follow the Money
Huffington Post has done an extremely useful thing: created an online database of presidential campaign contributions, which can be broken down by zip code or by name of donor. As the site itself notes, Beverly Hills 90210 has given $1,212,014 to candidates; whereas South Central 90011 has given $4250. Which zone will
Read entry →August 6, 2007 · 516 words
Mexican. Thai.
Kathy visited the nearby Asian food store— “nearby” in this case meaning a 75-mile round trip— and returned with a whole red snapper and a whole tilapia. The snapper I stuffed with parsley and lemons, wrapped in banana leaves, and grilled. Call it less than successful. I’m having a hard time mastering my ne
Read entry →August 6, 2007 · 114 words
Daniel’s On a Roll (3)
Daniel Abraham’s A Betrayal in Winter has just been released. It’s really, really good. Go forth and, without passing Go, buy it straightaway. This is Book II of the Long Price Quartet. I’ve already had the rather sumptuous pleasure of reading Book III, and am in the process of reading Book IV, so you know […]
Read entry →August 5, 2007 · 729 words
Curse of the Golden Flower
I’m so far behind in reading and viewing that my reviews are always ages late. I finished the Harry Potter book a week or so behind everyone else, and the discussions were already over. Living in the country means it’s a 75-mile trip to the theater, and that means we almost never go, so I […]
Read entry →July 31, 2007 · 1,262 words
Heroes
I’ve just finished reading the final Harry Potter book, which started me on a train of thought about fictional heroes and fictional heroics, and who they are and what they mean. I don’t think it’s a big spoiler to note that Harry, as heroes go, really isn’t that bright. He spends a good deal of […]
Read entry →July 23, 2007 · 47 words
C’est Moi
I have Simpsonized myself. I have also Simpsonized Kathy, an act for which I may be forgiven some time in the next decade. For anyone wishing to discover their Simpsons avatar, you don’t need to register, you just click on “new character” and your cartoonization may begin.
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